USS Nautilus
was the first nuclear-powered submarine. Electric Boat Company in Groton,
Connecticutthe same company that had sold the U.S. Navy its first
submarine in 1900laid her keel 14 June 1952. She was launched 18
months later and commissioned in September 1954.

Although Nautilus
was a large boat for her time323 feet (98 m) long and displacing 4,092
tons submerged, with a crew of 104she was also fast. The newly developed
S2W (Submarine, Model 2, Westinghouse) pressurized-water nuclear reactor
provided her power both on the surface, where her top speed was 22 knots
(41 km/hr), and underwater, where she could do 23 knots (42 km/hr).

Message from Nautilus
to the Commander, Submarine Forces Atlantic, at start of Nautilus' first
sea trial, 17 January 1955, shortly after 11:00 a.m.

Nautilus was a fully
functional warship. Here crewmen load a torpedo through the hatch on her
deck. Courtesy U.S. Naval Institute